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Ashok Gehlot
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Ashok Gehlot is the 21st & 23rd Chief Minister of the state of Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

, India.

Personal

Shri Ashok Gehlot, son of Late Shri Laxman Singh Gehlot, was born on 3 May 1951 in Jodhpur
Jodhpur
Jodhpur , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located west from the state capital, Jaipur and from the city of Ajmer. It was formerly the seat of a princely state of the same name, the capital of the kingdom known as Marwar...

, Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

. A Science and Law Graduate, Shri Gehlot holds an M.A. in Economics. Married to Smt. Sunita Gehlot on 27 November 1977, they have a son Vaibhav Gehlot and a daughter Sonia together. He belongs to the Rajput Mali
Rajput Mali
Rajput Mali is a distinctive ethnic group from Rajasthan which is included under the broader occupational group of the Mali caste as well as a separate sub-category within the Rajput group.- Origin :...

 community of Rajasthan and is affiliated to the Indian National Congress (INC) party.

Political profile

Active in politics and social service ever since his student life, Shri Gehlot was elected for the first time to the 7th Lok Sabha (1980–84) from Jodhpur Parliamentary Constituency in 1980. Shri Gehlot has represented Jodhpur Parliamentary Constituency in the 8th Lok Sabha (1984–1989) 10th Lok Sabha (1991–1996), 11th Lok Sabha (1996–1998), and 12th Lok Sabha (1998–1999).

Elected from Sardarpura (Jodhpur) Assembly Constituency, he became member of the 11th Rajasthan Legislative Assembly in February 1999. Shri Gehlot was again re-elected from the same Assembly Constituency on 4 December 2003 for the 12th Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha and on 8 December 2008 for the 13th Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha.

Union Minister

Shri Ashok Gehlot served in the Union Cabinet of former Indian Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi P.V. Narsimha Rao. He has served in the Union Cabinet three times. He remained Union Deputy Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation from 2 September 1982 to 7 February 1984, when Mrs. Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India. Thereafter, he became the Dy. Minister of Sports. He served the Sports Ministry from 7 February 1984 to 31 October 1984 and again from 12 November 1984 to 31 December 1984. His He was elevated to the rank of State Minister. Shri Gehlot served as the Union Minister of State, Tourism and Civil Aviation from 31 December 1984 to 26 September 1985. Later, he was made the Union Minister of State, Textiles with Independent Charge - a portfolio held by the Prime Minister himself. Shri Gehlot held this portfolio from 21 June 1991 to 18 January 1993.

Minister, Government of Rajasthan

Shri Gehlot served for a short period of time, as the Home and PHED Minister, Government of Rajasthan from June 1989 to November 1989.

AICC/CWC

In view of Shri Gehlot's untiring endeavors to promote and propagate Congress party's ideology, he was made General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee on 17 July 2004. He held this post up to 18 February 2009. Being a devoted and dedicated worker of the Congress party, Shri Gehlot was made Member (Special Invitee), Congress Working Committee as well as In charge of Himachal Pradesh and Chattisgarh States. He held this responsibility from January 2004 to July 2004.

RPCC Chief

Shri Ashok Gehlot became the President of Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee at the young age of 34. His first tenure as the RPCC Chief lasted from September 1985 to June 1989. He became RPCC Chief the Second time on 1 December 1994 and held this post until 14 April 1999.

Shri Gehlot strengthened the Youth wing of Congress party as the President of Rajasthan NSUI from 1973 to 1979. He served the City District Congress Committee, Jodhpur as its President from 1979 to 1982. He was also the General Secretary of Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (I) in 1982.

Philanthropy

Shri Gehlot worked in the refugee camps at Bangaon and 24 Parganas districts (WB) during the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971. Inspired by his keen interest in Social service, Shri Gehlot rendered his services for the development of slums and jhuggi areas and actively took part in camps organized by Tarun Shanti Sena at Sevagram, Wardha, Aurangabad, Indore and several places. He contributed to the extension of adult education through Nehru Yuva Kendra. He has been actively associated with Kumar Sahitya Parishad as well as Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Book Bank, Jodhpur.

Shri Gehlot is the founder president of Bharat Seva Sansthan . Dedicated to the social service, the Sansthan arranges for ambulance services and free books for the poor students through Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Book Bank. The Sansthan has established a reading room in Jodhpur at Shri Rajiv Gandhi Seva Sadan.

Sh. Gehlot is also the Chairman of Rajiv Gandhi Study Circle, New Delhi which caters to the interests of university and college students and teachers across the country.

Lok Sabha Legislative Experience

Shri Ashok Gehlot has always considered himself as the trustee of public funds and property. He had been member of the Public Accounts Committee (Lok Sabha) from 1980 to 1982. He was also Member of the Consultative Committee on Communication (10th Lok Sabha). He served as Member, Standing Committee on Railways (10th and 11th Lok Sabha) besides being member of the Consultative Committee on External Affairs (11th Lok Sabha).

Chief Minister of Rajasthan

Ashok Gehlot's first tenure of Chief Ministership (1-12-1998 to 8-12-2003) was characterized by his supporters as successful for a system of "unprecedented drought management, power generation, infrastructure development, employment generation, industrial and tourism promotion, financial management and good governance". In the 2003, Rajasthan State Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) elections Mr. Gehlot's Congress Party
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...

 lost the vote and Mrs. Vasundhara Raje Scindia, the state President of the primary opposition party, the Bhartiya Janata Party, was sworn in as Chief Minister of the state.

A popular slogan for Gehlot has been "Save Water, Save Electricity, Educate All" "पानी बचाओ, बिजली बचाओ, सबको पढ़ाओ."

Ashok Gehlot was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan for his second non-consecutive term on 13 December 2008.

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot is in the eye of a storm over allegations of favouring companies that employed the services of his son, Vaibhav Gehlot. The Gehlot government allegedly awarded contracts worth several crores of rupees to Om Metals and Triton Hotels, which had hired Vaibhav Gehlot as their legal consultant.

More charges of nepotism have been levied against Ashok Gehlot. It is said that he favoured the a real estate company Shouri Constructions, where his daughter Sonia Gehlot and her husband Gautam Ankhand are directors.
Gautam Ankhand said, "We are staying there not because we are shareholders or directors, but because of our relations."

Gehlot allegedly allocated the contract to renovate the famous heritage area of Jal Mahal - an area worth rupees 2000 crores. Shourie Constructions was earlier part of the real estate giant Kalpataru group. What has raised many eyebrows is that a lease of 99 years at the rate of just rupees 2.5 crores per annum had been granted to Kalpataru for renovating 432 acres of the Jal Mahal complex.

Although Mr Gehlot denied this by saying ""The allegations are completely baseless and false. I am against nepotism, and I never extend any undue favour to my family members or others. Those who are close to me know this fact very well,"

Positions held

Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha):
  • 1980 - 84 - Seventh Lok Sabha
  • 1984 - 89 - Eighth Lok Sabha
  • 1991 - 96 - Tenth Lok Sabha
  • 1996 - 98 - Eleventh Lok Sabha
  • 1998 - 99 - Twelfth Lok Sabha


Others:
  • 1980 - 82 - Member, Public Accounts Committee, Lok Sabha
  • 1982 - 83 - Union Deputy Minister, Department of Tourism
  • 1983 - 84 - Union Deputy Minister, Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation
  • 1984 - 84 - Union Deputy Minister, Department of Sports
  • 1984 - 85 - Union Minister of State, Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation
  • 1989 - 89 - Minister, Department of Home and PHED, Govt. of Rajasthan
  • 1991 - 93 - Union Minister of State, Department of Textiles (Independent Charge)
  • 1991 - 96 - Consultative Committee on Communication ( Lok Sabha )
  • 1991 - 98 - Standing Committee on Railway (10th & 11th Lok Sabha)
  • 1996 - 98 - Consultative Committee on External Affairs ( Lok Sabha )
  • 01-12-98 to 04-12-03 - Chief Minister, Rajasthan
  • 13-12-2008 to Present - Chief Minister, Rajasthan


Other positions held:
  • 1974 - 79 - President, Rajasthan NSUI
  • 1979 - 82 - President, City District Congress Committee, Jodhpur
  • 1982 - General Secretary, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee
  • 1985 - 89, 1994–97, 1997 - 99 - President, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee

External links

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